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Help with choosing right projector (1 Viewer)

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sheraz
Hello all,
I'm new to this forum. I am planning to install a projector in my basement. My basement is completely dark if all lights are closed so no ambient light there. I'm getting my basement redone so it's a good time to set it up properly for a home theater. Upon looking around I found out that Sony VPL-VW95ES has great reviews. It costs around 6,000 which is within my budget. Based on reviews it as great 2D but not so good 3D. I don't have good in depth knowledge on projector and while reading around, got myself a little confused. I hope you guys can help me out.
So my basement are where I want to install the projector has following measurement
Screen Wall
Width: 11 ft
Height: 8 ft
Distance from Screen to sitting area: 21 ft.
Seems like I have decent space for a nice home theatre system. I am also going to use grey paint to color walls and will also use a screen (don't know which one i should use).I watch mostly Bule-ray movies and play PS3 games in my free time. I'd love to wach 3D in action as well but reviews on VPL-95ES are not so good for 3D as it was pointed out that it needs to be brighter and also has some cross talk.
My biggest surprise is that I can't find any store I can go to see these projectors in action. I live in Nj and work in NY city. NJ,NY and PA are all accessible to me but I couldn't find any store I can go and see these camera. Even Sony store in Manhattan didn't have projector on display.
So following are my questions (thanks for reading upto this much).
Please note that I have a completely dark room with no ambient light coming in.
1 - Where can I go to see projector demos?
2 - Is there a better projector than VPL-VW95ES that gives 2D as good as this one (or better) and has great 3D quality
3 - What is the max screen I can have based on my room size
4 - Can someone please provide a link that explains in lehman term how to install projector (distance of projector from screen, should it be mounted on ceiling etc)
5 - What screen should I use to get best result
Thanks a millian in advance.
 

Jim Mcc

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You have a lot of homework to do. Go to Projectorcentral.com and Projectorreviews.com and read all the articles. Once you determine the technology you want(LCD, DLP, or LCos) we can make recommendations.
1) Unknown
2 With your budget, I would check into the JVC projectors
3) Screen size is based on your seating distance, NOT room size. Your seating distance of 21' is way too far from screen. Your screen wall isn't even big enough for a 21' seating distance(screen size). You need to move your seating distance closer. Your 11' wide screen wall also limits your screen size because you need room for speakers on each side of screen. What type of speakers do you want?
4) Probably covered in articles listed above. With your long room, you probably need to ceiling mount projector in the 12' to 15' range. 21' is pretty far back for most projectors to be mounted.
5) I'll leave this to someone else. I'm a DIY screen guy.
 
Joined
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sheraz
Jim,
Thanks for your response. I have been to Projectorcentral.com and Projectorreviews.com and a few others as well. I'd go with LCos based on the fact that it seems like best technology when projector is used in dark. I have 21 feel length but I haven't placed anything there yet. Good to know that I need to have projector somewhere in between 12-15. Would I be able to utilize full screen size with that distance? I also paid visit to sites that do the calculation and provide distance of projector but I get confused with terms like "Throw distance".
I have definitive speakers and will be placing them on the side. Don't know where to put the centeral as it should be at height of ears. May be behind the screen? would it be ok?
Why JVC projector and which one? Does it have better 2D and 3D as compared to Sony VPL-VW95ES?
Agreed that I'd need to leave some room for speakers but my speakers are thin and tall. That's what I wanted to know. How big screen can I have considering I have 11ft of width and 8ft of height?
Thanks.
 

Jim Mcc

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Yes, you can fill your screen from 12' to 15'. Throw distance is the distance from the lens to the screen. Most people place their center channel speaker above or below the screen. If you want to put it behind the screen, you need an acoustically transparent screen. Without knowing the width of your speakers, my guess is your max. screen size would be 8' to 9' wide(and that includes the black border around image).
I withdraw my recommendation of the JVC projectors, due to their 3D weaknesses.
The Sony VW95 is a little too dim for you. The review at Projectorcentral recommends you limit screen size to 100" diagonal for 2d viewing in a dark room. I recommend the brighter Sony VW50ES, or the Epson 5020UB. Read the reviews at Projectorcentral.com and Projectorreviews.com
 
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sheraz
In this ProjectorReviews.com video, he said that if you have a dark room, you are just fine with only 500 lumnes. 100'' diagonal is for 3D viewing not 2D according to projectorreviews.com. For 2D, if projector is mounted at Mid point, it can show upto 130' diagonally. Here is the text from projectreviews.com
"Brightness: I won't go on about 3D again, but just as a reminder - in 2D, the VW95ES measured (lens - at mid-point), a very healthy 725 lumens. Easily enough for say a 130 inch screen, or even a bit larger. Brightest mode just gets up to about 1000 lumens - rather average for a projector, but more than the other recently reviewed LCoS projectors from Mitsubishi and JVC."
Based on my room size and calutation from the site http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sony-VPL-VW95ES-projection-calculator.htm?add=6763, the max I can go is 138 from mid point (only 8 points shy)
 

Jim Mcc

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I looked at the review again at projectorcentral for the VW95ES, and it says in a dark room, 100" diagonal will be bright enough for 2D viewing. BUT if you want to view 3D, you will have to use a smaller screen. Are you going to shrink down the image to view 3D? I certainly wouldn't. That's why I wouldn't recommend the VW95ES. $6,000 is a lot of money to spend on a projector that doesn't even fulfill all your needs.
 

Dave Upton

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I'd look at the Panasonic PT-AE8000U, BenQ W7000 and Sony VPL-HW50ES - they all have much more light output and are a better match for your needs. So far the Sony is getting some good/favorable impressions.
 

Bobofbone

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Some suggestions that may be of use. All those things about seating distance should be looked at as suggestions, not gospel. It's your space and your theather-do it the way you like it. At 21 feet, with an 11 foot wide wall, the Panasonic (and probably any of the others) will allow you to project onto a screen the full width of the wall. I have a Pansonic 4000, and I'm using a screen 126" wide by about 53" high, and the projector is mounted on the ceiling in the next room, projecting through a port, giving me a throw distance of 14 feet. Using a calibration disc, it runs at 50% brightness. I also use a second lower setting that's about 1/3 brightness. We watch movies using the first setting with the lights on while my wife quilts. I haven't tried anything 3d yet, but I suspect I have plenty of light when the lights are off for 3D.
I'd suggest going to the movies-one where you pay to get in, for an afternoon showing of something that's not well attended. Try different spots, find the one you like, and pace off the width of the screen and the distance you find you like. Duplicate it for your theater. With the space you have, you could put a wall 2-3 feet from the side you're going to project on, place your center and front speaker behind the wall, and mount an acoustically transparent screen in front of the speakers. With a few basic tools and a bit of effort, building a screen isn't hard. This site has acoustically trransparent screen material:
http://www.buildyourownprojectionscreen.com/
One other suggestion. For projector demos, you might try the show rooms of any place that makes custom theaters. I went to one in my area, and looked at theirs. They had a Sony projector-I don't remember the model. While I didn't utilize their service for what I built, they had some good ideas. I was going primarily to see what they had for speakers, and ended up getting the Paradigm set I now have from them.
 
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sheraz
Bob,
Thanks for the site. I looked at it and it does seem like a good option to buy material as it's much cheaper than buying the screen but then how can one build the screen out of material? I mean attaching the material to a rod and then clipping the sides and stuff. Is there a guide to that. I thought the site that sells material would also provide such info but it doesn't.
I'm not familiar with movies-one. Googling it didn't give me any result that matched your description. Can you please provide a link?
Thanks.
 

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